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Government Plays Favorites with Prosecutions

To friends of freedom, it seems obvious that the government should not be choosing favorites. On the contrary, the role of government should be limited to ensuring that the playing field is level, and industries are not subjected to different rules based on government’s understanding and support of what they do. Take, for example, the way in which an oil company is treated when birds are killed on their watch and when the same happens, to a much greater degree, due to wind turbines.

Back in 2005, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service discovered that a Denver-based oil company was in violation the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska, which led to the death of a dozen migratory birds. Last week, the Denver-based oil company pled guilty in these deaths, and was fined $22,500. In addition, they are on probation for one year and must pay an additional $7,500 to the Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Earlier in 2012, the Justice Department charged several oil companies in North Dakota for the deaths of 28 migratory birds. Harold Hamm, CEO of one of the companies involved, called the move “completely discriminatory.”

However, hundreds of birds die in wind turbines, and these incidents remain largely unreported and uncensured. Last year, nearly 500 songbirds died at a West Virginia wind farm. It had happened on two previous occasions as well, but the federal government did nothing. It’s not only the oil companies who believe that this double standard has to come to an end. “The playing field is not leveled,” American Bird Conservancy spokesman Bill Johns said “If there had been a serious consequence the first time, there wouldn’t have been a second time and a third time. All they do now is go, ‘Whoops, my bad’ and it’s forgiven.” A study by the Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that wind farms kill nearly 500,000 birds annually in the United States.

The wind sector is also exempt from the Eagle Protection Act. “How does an industry kill more than 2,000 eagles and not be fined once?” Johns asked. “It’s a head scratcher.” It seems highly unlikely, based on the government’s track record, that these would have gone un-prosecuted had oil companies been to blame. The list of double standards goes on and on begging the question- why are the American people allowing the government to play favorites to manipulate the market?

The American government loves electric cars. President Obama dreams of having a million of them on our roads, and our government is actively promoting them. While picking winners and losers, the government has used taxpayer money to back quite a few losers over the years.

It might surprise you to learn that hydroelectric power is not renewable energy. Well, it's not considered renewable in Oregon, anyway. Despite the fact that the engine of electricity production literally falls from the sky - at a higher than average rate for the United States. Due to bureaucratic nonsense, hydroelecric power cannot be applied to the state's mandate to produce 25% of its power from renewable resources. Luckily, a plucky group of citizens has picked up on this anomaly and is attempting to correct the problem.

For decades, the debate has raged over how best to manage private forestland to promote forest health while taking full economic advantage of our natural resources. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in an effort to appear to be fostering voluntary compliance, has increasingly supported Forest Certification programs. Now, I'm going to be honest with you - before I began researching this concept, I had no idea what the significance was or how it could affect the economy and consumers of wood products.

Since the early 1990s, the federal government has buttressed the wind energy industry through a series of programs and subsidies. The flagship program has been the Wind Production Tax Credit (PTC). This program provided a subsidy of 2.2 cents for every kilowatt-hour produced by wind utilities.

Lawmakers and lobbyists in Iowa are pushing for an additional 10 cent per gallon gasoline tax, on top of the 21 cent gas tax already in place. Raising the gas tax, especially in this stalled economy, would hurt Iowa families by forcing them to pay even more at the gas pump. This proposed tax would be particularly cruel since the average gas price in Iowa is a whopping $3.70 per gallon.

Frequently, entitlement reform is discussed among policymakers as a way to reduce government spending, but the entitlement reform discussed often concerns individual entitlements, not those directed toward corporations. A recent examination of the federal tax code by the Cato Institute’s Tad DeHaven found that each year corporate welfare in the tax code cost taxpayers nearly $100 billion.

Last week, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman approved a reroute of the oft-disputed Keystone XL pipeline. Previously, the pipeline was slated to cross not only the Nebraska Sandhills but the Ogallala aquifer as well, two areas that had environmentalist groups ready for war. The resultant pressure caused Gov. Heineman to withdraw his support for the pipeline as planned, and President Obama denied the required Presidential Permit in January 2012.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but we're still a nation desperately in need of jobs and revenue, right?A new study commissioned by supporters of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline says Nebraska could reap close to $2 billion in economic benefits if the project were built.